Method and apparatus for device transmit power capping in wireless communications

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatuses are provided for determining a transmission power cap for one or more devices based at least in part on pathloss measurements to one or more access points received from the one or more devices. A common transmission power cap can also be computed for assigning to devices communicating with an access point, and the transmission power cap for a given device can be adjusted when the transmission power is at or a threshold level from the common power cap to conserve signaling in the wireless network. Adjustment of the transmission power cap can additionally or alternatively be based on a received power at an access point related to signals from the device, an interference report from one or more access points, and/or the like.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. §120

The present application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.13/171,002 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DEVICE TRANSMIT POWERCAPPING IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS” filed Jun. 28, 2011, which claimspriority to Provisional Application No. 61/359,757 entitled “MOBILETRANSMIT POWER CAPPING FOR UPLINK INTERFERENCE MANAGEMENT” filed Jun.29, 2010, and both applications are assigned to the assignee hereof andhereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The following description relates generally to wireless networkcommunications, and more particularly to capping device transmit power.

2. Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as, for example, voice, data, and soon. Typical wireless communication systems may be multiple-accesssystems capable of supporting communication with multiple users bysharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, . .. ). Examples of such multiple-access systems may include code divisionmultiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA)systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonalfrequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and the like.Additionally, the systems can conform to specifications such as thirdgeneration partnership project (3GPP), 3GPP long term evolution (LTE),ultra mobile broadband (UMB), evolution data optimized (EV-DO), etc.

Generally, wireless multiple-access communication systems maysimultaneously support communication for multiple mobile devices. Eachmobile device may communicate with one or more access points viatransmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link (ordownlink) refers to the communication link from access points to mobiledevices, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communicationlink from mobile devices to access points. Further, communicationsbetween mobile devices and access points may be established viasingle-input single-output (SISO) systems, multiple-input single-output(MISO) systems, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, and soforth. In addition, mobile devices can communicate with other mobiledevices (and/or access points with other access points) in peer-to-peerwireless network configurations.

To supplement conventional base stations, additional restricted accesspoints can be deployed to provide more robust wireless coverage tomobile devices. For example, wireless relay stations and low power basestations (e.g., which can be commonly referred to as Home NodeBs or HomeeNBs, collectively referred to as H(e)NBs, femto access points,femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.) can be deployed for incrementalcapacity growth, richer user experience, in-building or other specificgeographic coverage, and/or the like. In some configurations, such lowpower base stations can be connected to the Internet via broadbandconnection (e.g., digital subscriber line (DSL) router, cable or othermodem, etc.), which can provide the backhaul link to the mobileoperator's network. Thus, for example, the low power base stations canbe deployed in user homes to provide mobile network access to one ormore devices via the broadband connection.

In this regard, deployment of such low power base stations is unplannedin many cases, and thus the base stations and/or mobile devicescommunicating therewith can cause interference to other low power basestations, macrocell base stations, or other devices in the vicinity.Interference mitigation mechanisms exist for low power base stations toset transmission power thereof preventing or lessening interference withother access points. Devices served by the low power access point,however, can still cause interference to the other access pointsoperating in the same frequency as the low power access point (referredto as co-channel interference), or in an adjacent frequency (referred toas adjacent channel interference).

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects inorder to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary isnot an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intendedto neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nordelineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is topresent some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In accordance with one or more embodiments and corresponding disclosurethereof, various aspects are described in connection with cappingtransmission power of devices communicating with an access points tomitigate interference to neighboring access points. In an example,devices served by an access point can measure pathloss and/or similarmetrics to other access points, and can report the measurements to theaccess point. The access point can then compute a transmission power capfor one or more of the devices based at least in part on themeasurements corresponding to the other access points. In addition, forexample, to lower resulting signaling load at the network, the accesspoint can compute a common transmission power cap for assigning todevices served by the access points, and the transmission power cap fora given device can be adjusted based at least in part on one or moretriggers (e.g., transmission power rising above the cap, received signalpower from the device above a threshold level, etc.). In anotherexample, the access point can readjust the transmission power cap for agiven device based at least in part on parameters received from theother access points regarding the device.

According to an example, a method for determining a transmission powercap for a device to mitigate interference at least at an access point isprovided that includes receiving a pathloss measurement to at least oneaccess point from a device and computing a transmission power cap forone or more devices based at least in part on the pathloss measurement.The method also includes causing the one or more devices to communicateaccording to the transmission power cap.

In another aspect, an apparatus for determining a transmission power capfor a device to mitigate interference at least at an access point isprovided. The apparatus includes at least one processor configured toreceive a pathloss measurement to at least one access point from adevice and compute a transmission power cap for one or more devicesbased at least in part on the pathloss measurement. The at least oneprocessor is further configured to cause the one or more devices tocommunicate according to the transmission power cap. The apparatus alsoincludes a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

In yet another aspect, an apparatus for determining a transmission powercap for a device to mitigate interference at least at an access point isprovided that includes means for receiving a pathloss measurement to atleast one access point from a device and means for computing atransmission power cap for one or more devices device based at least inpart on the pathloss measurement. The apparatus further includes meansfor causing the one or more devices to communicate according to thetransmission power cap.

Still, in another aspect, a computer-program product for determining atransmission power cap for a device to mitigate interference at least atan access point is provided including a computer-readable medium havingcode for causing at least one computer to receive a pathloss measurementto at least one access point from a device and code for causing the atleast one computer to compute a transmission power cap for one or moredevices based at least in part on the pathloss measurement. Thecomputer-readable medium further includes code for causing the at leastone computer to cause the one or more devices to communicate accordingto the transmission power cap.

Moreover, in an aspect, an apparatus for determining a transmissionpower cap for a device to mitigate interference at least at an accesspoint is provided that includes a pathloss receiving component forobtaining a pathloss measurement to at least one access point from adevice and a transmit power cap computing component for computing atransmission power cap for one or more devices based at least in part onthe pathloss measurement. The apparatus further includes a component forcausing the one or more devices to communicate according to thetransmission power cap.

According to another example, a method of determining to adjust atransmission power cap for a device to mitigate interference at least atan access point is provided that includes obtaining a transmission powercap from an access point and determining that transmission powerutilized to transmit one or more signals to the access point is at or atleast a threshold level from the transmission power cap. The method alsoincludes notifying the access point that the transmission power is at orat least the threshold level from the transmission power cap.

In another aspect, an apparatus for determining to adjust a transmissionpower cap for a device to mitigate interference at least at an accesspoint is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processorconfigured to obtain a transmission power cap from an access point anddetermine that a transmission power utilized to transmit one or moresignals to the access point is at or at least a threshold level from thetransmission power cap. The at least one processor is further configuredto notify the access point that the transmission power is at or at leastthe threshold level from the transmission power cap. The apparatus alsoincludes a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

In yet another aspect, an apparatus for determining to adjust atransmission power cap for a device to mitigate interference at least atan access point is provided that includes means for obtaining atransmission power cap from an access point. The apparatus furtherincludes means for notifying the access point that a transmission powerutilized to transmit one or more signals to the access point is at or atleast a threshold level from the transmission power cap.

Still, in another aspect, a computer-program product for determining toadjust a transmission power cap for a device to mitigate interference atleast at an access point is provided including a computer-readablemedium having code for causing at least one computer to obtain atransmission power cap from an access point. The computer-readablemedium further includes code for causing the at least one computer todetermine that a transmission power utilized to transmit one or moresignals to the access point is at or at least a threshold level from thetransmission power cap and code for causing the at least one computer tonotify the access point that the transmission power is at or at leastthe threshold level from the transmission power cap.

Moreover, in an aspect, an apparatus for determining to adjust atransmission power cap for a device to mitigate interference at least atan access point is provided that includes a transmit power cap receivingcomponent for obtaining a transmission power cap from an access point.The apparatus further includes a cap adjustment triggering component fornotifying the access point that a transmission power utilized totransmit one or more signals to the access point is at or at least athreshold level from the transmission power cap.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed, and this description is intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosed aspects will hereinafter be described in conjunction withthe appended drawings, provided to illustrate and not to limit thedisclosed aspects, wherein like designations denote like elements, andin which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system that facilitatesmitigating interference in a wireless network.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example system for computing atransmission power cap for a device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example system for adjusting a commontransmission power cap assigned to a device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example system for adjusting atransmission power cap based on an interference report from an accesspoint.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an aspect of an example methodology fordetermining a transmission power cap for a device.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an aspect of an example methodology forconstructing a pathloss difference cumulative density function for oneor more access points.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an aspect of an example methodology thatconfigures devices to report transmission power when the devices is ator a threshold level near one or more reference transmission powers.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an aspect of an example methodology foradjusting a transmission power cap for a device based on determiningthat the device transmission power is at or is a threshold level near aprevious transmission power cap.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an aspect of an example methodology thatcomputes a transmission power cap for a device based at least in part ona received signal power.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an aspect of an example methodology foradjusting a transmission power cap for a device based on a receivedinterference report.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of an aspect of an example methodology thatnotifies an access point of reaching or nearing a transmission powercap.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an example mobile device according tovarious aspects described herein.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an example system for facilitatingdetermining a transmission power cap.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an example system that determines atransmission power cap for a device.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an example system that notifies an accesspoint of reaching or nearing a transmission power cap.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of an example wireless communication systemin accordance with various aspects set forth herein.

FIG. 17 is an illustration of an example wireless network environmentthat can be employed in conjunction with the various systems and methodsdescribed herein.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example wireless communication system, configuredto support a number of devices, in which the aspects herein can beimplemented.

FIG. 19 is an illustration of an exemplary communication system toenable deployment of femtocells within a network environment.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of a coverage map having several definedtracking areas.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects are now described with reference to the drawings. In thefollowing description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofone or more aspects. It may be evident, however, that such aspect(s) maybe practiced without these specific details.

As described further herein, an access point can cap transmission (Tx)power of one or more served devices to mitigate interference to otheraccess points. The other access points can be in the vicinity of theserving access point such that the one or more served devices mayinterfere with the other access points when communicating with theserving access point. In one example, the one or more served devices canmeasure pathloss or other metrics to the other access points, and canindicate the measurements to the serving access point. In this regard,the serving access point can set a transmission power cap for at leastone of the one or more served devices based in part on the measurements(e.g., along with a noise floor at the other access points, a powercapping threshold, etc.). This can mitigate co-channel and/or adjacentchannel interference to the other access points that may otherwise becaused by the at least one device.

In one example, a common transmission power cap can be determined by theaccess point based at least in part on measurements from various devicesfor one or more other access points. The transmission power cap can thenbe adjusted for a given device based at least in part on one or moretriggers, such as where the device is at or is at least a thresholdlevel away from the common transmission power cap, where received (Rx)power of a signal from device at the serving access point meets orexceeds a threshold level, etc. In another example, the serving accesspoint adjusts the transmission power cap for a device based at least inpart on receiving one or more parameters from the other access pointsthat indicate interference from one or more devices served by theserving access point.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “module,” “system”and the like are intended to include a computer-related entity, such asbut not limited to hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. For example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application runningon a computing device and the computing device can be a component. Oneor more components can reside within a process and/or thread ofexecution and a component may be localized on one computer and/ordistributed between two or more computers. In addition, these componentscan execute from various computer readable media having various datastructures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way oflocal and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal havingone or more data packets, such as data from one component interactingwith another component in a local system, distributed system, and/oracross a network such as the Internet with other systems by way of thesignal.

Furthermore, various aspects are described herein in connection with aterminal, which can be a wired terminal or a wireless terminal. Aterminal can also be called a system, device, subscriber unit,subscriber station, mobile station, mobile, mobile device, remotestation, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, terminal,communication device, user agent, user device, or user equipment (UE). Awireless terminal may be a cellular telephone, a satellite phone, acordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, awireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), ahandheld device having wireless connection capability, a computingdevice, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem.Moreover, various aspects are described herein in connection with a basestation. A base station may be utilized for communicating with wirelessterminal(s) and may also be referred to as an access point, a Node B,evolved Node B (eNB), H(e)NB, or some other terminology.

Moreover, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom the context, the phrase “X employs A or B” is intended to mean anyof the natural inclusive permutations. That is, the phrase “X employs Aor B” is satisfied by any of the following instances: X employs A; Xemploys B; or X employs both A and B. In addition, the articles “a” and“an” as used in this application and the appended claims shouldgenerally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwiseor clear from the context to be directed to a singular form.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA and othersystems. The terms “system” and “network” are often usedinterchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such asUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includesWideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) and other variants of CDMA. Further, cdma2000covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA system may implementa radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications(GSM). An OFDMA system may implement a radio technology such as EvolvedUTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM®, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are partof Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). 3GPP Long TermEvolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA, which employsOFDMA on the downlink and SC-FDMA on the uplink. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTEand GSM are described in documents from an organization named “3rdGeneration Partnership Project” (3GPP). Additionally, cdma2000 and UMBare described in documents from an organization named “3rd GenerationPartnership Project 2” (3GPP2). Further, such wireless communicationsystems may additionally include peer-to-peer (e.g., mobile-to-mobile)ad hoc network systems often using unpaired unlicensed spectrums, 802.xxwireless LAN, BLUETOOTH and any other short- or long-range, wirelesscommunication techniques.

Various aspects or features will be presented in terms of systems thatmay include a number of devices, components, modules, and the like. Itis to be understood and appreciated that the various systems may includeadditional devices, components, modules, etc. and/or may not include allof the devices, components, modules etc. discussed in connection withthe figures. A combination of these approaches may also be used.

Referring to FIG. 1, an example wireless communication system 100 isillustrated that facilitates computing a transmission power cap for adevice. System 100 comprises a device 102 that can communicate with aserving access point 104 to receive access to a wireless network and/orone or more components thereof. System 100 can also comprise otheraccess points 106 and/or 108 with which device 102 can potentiallyinterfere. System 100 also optionally comprises another device 110 thatcan be served by serving access point 104. For example, device 102and/or 110 can be a UE, modem (or other tethered device), a portionthereof, and/or the like. Access points 104, 106, and/or 108 can each bea femtocell access point (such as a Home Node B or Home evolved Node B,collectively referred to herein as H(e)NB), picocell access point,microcell access point, a mobile base station, a relay node, a device(e.g., communicating in peer-to-peer or ad-hoc mode), a portion thereof,and/or the like.

According to an example, device 102 can potentially interfere withaccess point 106 and/or 108 while communicating with serving accesspoint 104. As described, serving access point 104, access point 106,and/or access point 108 can be part of a femtocell or other unplannedwireless network deployment, and thus, the access points 104, 106,and/or 108, or devices communicating therewith, can possibly interferewith one another (e.g., where access points are deployed in closeproximity). Thus, serving access point 104 can provide a transmissionpower cap 112 to device 102 to mitigate interference to at least accesspoint 106 caused by communications from device 102. In an example,device 102 can receive a signal 114 from access point 106 and cancompute a pathloss thereof or a similar communication metric. Device 102can report the pathloss 116 to access point 106, or the similar metric,to serving access point 104. Based at least in part on the pathloss orother metric, serving access point 104 can compute a transmission powercap for device 102, and provide the transmission power cap 112 to thedevice 102. Device 102 can comply with the transmission power cap tomitigate interference to access point 106.

The foregoing, in an example, can result in additional signaling loadfrom device 102. In one example, this can be mitigated, if desired, atleast in part by serving access point 104 computing a commontransmission power cap for served devices, such as device 102 and/ordevice 110, which can be modified on a per device basis. For example,serving access point 104 can collect pathloss measurements of accesspoints 106 and 108 from device 102, as well as pathloss measurements ofaccess point 108 from device 110. It is to be appreciated thatadditional neighboring access points and/or devices served by servingaccess point 104 can be present, and related pathloss reports can bereceived by serving access point 104. In any case, serving access point104 can determine a common transmission power cap for the devices 102and 110 to mitigate interference with access points 106 and 108. Forexample, this can be the minimum computed transmission power cap. Inthis example, the transmission power cap for device 102 and/or device110 can be adjusted individually based at least in part on one or moreevents or other triggers.

For example, the one or more events can occur at device 102, such asdetermining a transmission power is at or nearing (e.g., at a thresholdlevel near) the transmission power cap. Upon this event, for example,device 102 can notify serving access point 104 by reporting a currenttransmission power at device 102. In an example, serving access point104 can request device 102 to report pathloss for access points, such asaccess point 106 and/or 108, having a related reference transmissionpower less than a transmission power reported for device 102 to furthermitigate signaling related to access points that are not potentiallyinterfered by device 102. In another example, device 102 can determineand report pathloss to one or more of access points 106 and/or 108 toserving access point 104 based on determining the transmission power isat or nearing the transmission power cap. In yet another example,serving access point 104 can measure received power of device 102 atserving access point 104. In this example, where the received power ofsignals from device 102 at serving access point 104 meets or exceeds athreshold level, the serving access point 104 can similarly configuredevice 102 to submit pathloss reports corresponding to other accesspoints in the vicinity, such as access points 106 and/or 108. In anycase, the transmission power cap for device 102 can be adjusted based onthe pathloss measurements.

In yet another example, access point 106 can detect interference fromdevice 102 as beyond a threshold level. In this example, access point106 can report the interference to serving access point 104 (e.g., overa backhaul connection 118), and serving access point 104 can accordinglyadjust the transmission power cap for device 102 to mitigate theinterference. For instance, access point 106 can formulate a reportincluding an interference level indicator, which can be an absolute orrelative indicator of a total level of interference or a level ofinterference from device 102, an indicator of a presence of interferencefrom device 102, etc. In another example, access point 106 can generatea report of dominant interfering device identifiers, which cancorrespond to devices causing at least a threshold level ofinterference, or a percentile of devices causing the highest level ofinterference. In either case, serving access point 104 can accordinglyadjust the transmission power cap for device 102.

Turning to FIG. 2, an example wireless communication system 200 isillustrated that facilitates determining a transmission power cap for adevice. System 200 comprises a device 202 that communicates with aserving access point 204 to receive access to one or more wirelessnetwork components, as described. In addition, system 200 can includeanother access point 206 with which device 202 can potentially interferedue at least in part to communicating with serving access point 204. Forexample, deployment of serving access point 204 can result ininterference to other access points in the vicinity of serving accesspoint 204 (not shown), whether caused by serving access point 204,device 202 or other devices communicating with serving access point 204,etc. As described, for example, device 202 can be a UE, modem, etc., andserving access point 204 and access point 206 can each be a femtocellaccess point, H(e)NB, and/or the like.

Device 202 can comprise a pathloss measuring component 208 thatdetermines a pathloss to one or more access points, a pathloss reportingcomponent 210 that communicates the determined pathloss to one or moreaccess points or devices, and a Tx power cap receiving component 212that obtains a transmission power cap based at least in part on thepathloss. Serving access point 204 comprises a pathloss receivingcomponent 214 for obtaining a pathloss to one or more access points at adevice, a Tx power cap computing component 216 for determining atransmission power cap for the device based at least in part on thepathloss, and a Tx power cap providing component 218 for communicatingthe transmission power cap to the device.

According to an example, pathloss measuring component 208 can determinea pathloss of one or more signals received from access point 206. Forexample, this can be based at least in part on a trigger to measuresignals from access point 206, such as a timer, a detection of device202 is at or nearing (e.g., at a threshold level from) a previouslyreceived transmission power cap, a request from serving access point 204to measure one or more access points from which signals can be heard bydevice 202, and/or the like. In one example, pathloss measuringcomponent 208 can determine the pathloss based at least in part on oneor more power measurements, such as a received signal code power (RSCP)of the signal, a common pilot indicator channel (CPICH) transmissionpower measured for the one or more access points, etc. Moreover, thepathloss measurements can correlate to access points on a same frequencyof serving access point 204, an adjacent frequency, and/or the like.

In any case, pathloss reporting component 210 can communicate themeasured pathloss, or other power measurements, to serving access point204. Pathloss receiving component 214 can obtain the measured pathlossfrom device 202, in this example, and Tx power cap computing component216 can determine a transmission power cap for device 202 based at leastin part on the pathloss to mitigate device 202 interference to accesspoint 206. For example, where the pathloss receiving component 214obtains a RSCP measurement from the device 202, pathloss receivingcomponent 214 can compute the pathloss to access point 206 based atleast in part on the RSCP measurement and a received downlink transmitpower utilized by the access point 206 to transmit the signal. Forexample, pathloss receiving component 214 can determine the downlinktransmit power from the device 206 from a access point managementserver, using an NLM to measure the power, etc. In one example, pathlossreceiving component 214, where other power measurements are received,can compute or otherwise estimate a pathloss based on the other powermeasurements.

In an example, Tx power cap computing component 216 can determine thetransmission power cap according to the following formula:TxPwr_Cap=PL_(M)+No_(M)−Δ_(M)where PL_(M) is the pathloss to access point 206 measured by pathlossmeasuring component 208, No_(M) is a noise floor at access point 206,and Δ_(M) is a transmission power capping threshold. For example, Txpower cap computing component 216 can obtain the noise floor, No_(M),from access point 206, from a management server for access points (e.g.,an H(e)NB management system (HMS)), a gateway or similar networkcomponent, a device that forwards signals from access point 206,communicates information previously received from access point 206,etc., and/or the like. Δ_(M), for example, can be configured at servingaccess point 204 (e.g., from a configuration file, from an operations,administration, and management (OAM) procedure, etc.), determined basedat least in part on a hardcoding thereof or other specification, and/orthe like. In any case, Tx power cap providing component 218 can causethe device 202 to communicate according to the transmission power cap;this can include communicating the transmission power cap to device 202.Tx power cap receiving component 212 can obtain the transmission powercap, and the device 202 can communicate with serving access point 204taking care not to exceed the transmission power cap.

For example, as device 202 moves away from serving access point 204,device 202 can increase transmission power to improve signal quality andremain in communication therewith. Though the device 202 may eventuallydetermine to set transmission power at the transmission power cap, thedevice 202 can take some measures to ensure the transmission power capis not exceeded. In one example, this can eventually result in handoverwhere communications with serving access point 204 degrade beyond athreshold level and device 202 is unable to increase transmission powerover the transmission power cap to accommodate. Moreover, in an example,since the device 202 moves throughout the wireless network, device 202can continually report to serving access point 204 the pathloss toaccess point 206, which can ensure the transmission power cap at device202 is updated for multiple specific locations. This can increasesignaling load at the wireless network, and thus additionalfunctionality is described herein can be utilized to decrease thepathloss signaling at device 202.

In one example, though not shown, it is to be appreciated that thedevice 202 can comprise a Tx power cap computing component 216 forcomputing the transmission power cap locally (e.g., according to one ormore preconfigured or obtained algorithms) based on pathlossmeasurements from pathloss measuring component 208 instead of (or inaddition to) reporting the pathloss to the serving access point 204 forcomputing the transmission power cap. The Tx power cap receivingcomponent 212 can accordingly receive the computed transmission powercap, cause device 202 to utilize the transmission power cap incommunicating with serving access point 204.

Referring to FIG. 3, an example wireless communication system 300 isillustrated for adjusting a transmission power cap for a device. System300 comprises a device 302 that communicates with a serving access point304 to receive access to a wireless network. System 300 also comprisesan access point 206, with which device 302 can potentially interfere(which can include interfering with devices communicating with accesspoint 206) while transmitting signals to serving access point 304. Inthis regard, for example, serving access point 304 and/or access point206 can be deployed within a vicinity of one another. As described,device 302 can be a UE, modem, etc., serving access point 304 and/oraccess point 206 can each be a macrocell, femtocell, or picocell accesspoint, etc.

Device 302 can comprise a pathloss measuring component 208 fordetermining a pathloss to one or more access points, a pathlossreporting component 210 for communicating the pathloss to one or moresimilar or different access points, and a Tx power cap receivingcomponent 212 for obtaining a transmission power cap based at least inpart on the reported pathloss. Device 302 also comprises an optional capadjustment triggering component 306 for determining to requestadjustment of the transmission power cap, and a measurement requestreceiving component 308 for obtaining a request to perform additionalpathloss measurements of one or more access points.

Serving access point 304 comprises an optional co-located networklistening module (NLM) component 310 for receiving one or more signalsfrom one or more access points for determining a transmit power,determining an access point for monitoring in computing a transmissionpower cap for a device, etc., a pathloss receiving component 312 forobtaining a pathloss measurement to one or more access points from adevice, and a Tx power cap computing component 314 for determining atransmission power cap for the device based at least in part on thepathloss measurement(s). Serving access point 304 can additionallycomprise a Tx power cap providing component 316 for communicating thetransmission power cap to the device, an optional cap adjustmenttriggering component 318 for determining to adjust a transmission powercap for a device, and a measurement requesting component 320 forcommunicating a request to one or more devices to perform additionalpathloss measurements.

According to an example, serving access point 304 can collect pathlossstatistics for computing a common transmission power cap for devicescommunicating therewith. The common transmission power cap can beassigned to the devices, and upon one or more triggers, the servingaccess point 304 can modify a transmission power cap for a given device,as described. Thus, for example, to collect pathloss statistics,measurement requesting component 320 can communicate a request to one ormore devices to measure pathloss to surrounding access points. Forexample, this can occur at initialization of serving access point 304(e.g., similarly to determining downlink transmission power for theserving access point 304 based on received signal strengths andbroadcast information within a related macrocell so as not tosubstantially interfere with one or more access points in themacrocell).

In an example, measurement requesting component 320 can determine a setof access points to monitor from which one or more transmission powercaps can be computed based on pathloss to the set of access points fromvarious devices. For example, measurement requesting component 320 canutilize NLM component 310 to scan a primary scrambling code (PSC) range,or other access point identifying range, to determine access pointsand/or related cells from which signals can be received by NLM component310, such as access point 206. In addition, for example, the determinedaccess points can utilize a same operating frequency as access point304, an adjacent operating frequency, and/or the like.

In another example, measurement requesting component 320 can determineanother operating frequency for one or more of the determined accesspoints, and can request that the one or more devices perform aninter-frequency measurement for the one or more of the determined accesspoints over the other operating frequency (e.g., in addition oralternatively to the original operating frequency specified for the oneor more of the determined access points). This can facilitate measuringthe one or more of the determined access points where one or moredevices cannot detect signals therefrom (e.g., the pilot transmit poweris received below a threshold detection signal-to-interference ratio(SIR)). In one example, the measurement requesting component 320 candetermine to request measuring on the other operating frequency upon notreceiving measurements for the one or more of the determined accesspoints within a given period of time. Moreover, in an example, the otheroperating frequency can be adjacent to the original operating frequencyof the one or more of the determined access points.

Once measurement requesting component 320 determines the set of accesspoints and/or associated operating frequencies over which to measure theset of access points, measurement requesting component 320 can configureone or more devices, such as device 302, to measure and report pathlossto at least a portion of access points in the set (e.g., includingaccess point 206) as well as to the serving access point 304, as part ofa training period. Measurement request receiving component 308 canobtain the request to measure the pathloss. Pathloss measuring component208 can accordingly receive signals from at least the portion of the setof access points (e.g., whether in the same frequency as serving accesspoint 304 or in another frequency), and the serving access point 304 andmeasure pathloss based on the signals.

In this example, pathloss reporting component 210 can communicate themeasured pathloss to one or more access points, including serving accesspoint 304 and access point 206, to serving access point 304. It is to beappreciated that pathloss measuring component 208 can measure, andpathloss reporting component 210 can report, pathloss to additionalaccess points having other PSCs, and measurement requesting component320 can add the additional PSCs to the set of access points. Pathlossreceiving component 312 can receive the pathloss measurements fromdevice 302 and/or other devices, as described. In this regard, thepathloss measurements can be received for at least a portion of accesspoints in the set of access points based on different device locations.Pathloss receiving component 312 can construct a pathloss cumulativedensity function (CDF), or other combination of the pathlossmeasurements, for each access point for which at least one pathlossmeasurement is received based at least in part on the pathlossmeasurements. Alternatively, the pathloss receiving component 312 cancharacterize pathloss to each access point in the set of access pointsbased at least in part on measuring signals from the access points usingNLM component 310.

In yet another example, pathloss receiving component 312 can estimatethe pathloss to an access point, such as access point 206, based atleast in part on a pilot detection SIR threshold. In this example,pathloss receiving component 312 can determine a pilot detection SIRrelated threshold to access point 206 and/or access points in general(e.g., as a hardcoded or configured parameter). For example, the pilotdetection SIR threshold can correspond to a received signal power over atotal noise needed to detect a pilot signal from the access point.Pathloss receiving component 312 can also obtain a strength of a pilotsignal transmission of an access point, such as access point 206, froman access point management server, measurements of the access point byNLM component 310, etc. In addition, pathloss measuring component canmeasure a total received level, Io, and pathloss reporting component 210can provide the total noise level to serving access point 304. Pathlossreceiving component 312 can receive the total noise level and canaccordingly compute a pathloss to the access point based on the pilotdetection SIR threshold, total noise level, and pilot signal strengthtransmission measurements. For example, pathloss receiving component 312can estimate the pathloss based at least in part on the followingformula:

${PL} = {{{{CPICH\_ TxPwr} - {Ecp}} > {{CPICH\_ TxPwr} - \left( {{Io} + {Detect\_ Thres}} \right)}}\overset{\bigtriangleup}{=}{{PL\_ lower}{\_ bound}}}$where PL_lower_bound gives the estimated pathloss, Detect_Thres is thepilot detection SIR threshold, and CPICH_Tx_Pwr is the pilot signalstrength measurement.

Once the pathloss receiving component 312 obtains a number of pathlossmeasurements and determines the CDF for the portion of access points,pathloss receiving component 312 can also compute a pathloss differenceCDF for each access point in the portion of the set of access points forwhich pathloss measurements are received. For example, for each pathlossmeasurement reported for serving access point 304 from a device, PL_(S),such as device 302, pathloss receiving component 312 can determinepathloss to the ith access point, PL_(M)(i), reported at the closesttime from the specific device. For example, pathloss receiving component312 can evaluate i pathloss measurements reported by the device todetermine the one with the closest time, where i is the number of accesspoints in the set for which pathloss measurements are received. Pathlossreceiving component 312 can compute the difference in the pathlossmeasurements, PL_(M)(i)−PL_(S), for each reported PL_(S), and canaccordingly construct the pathloss difference CDF.

Alternatively, where pathloss receiving component 312 characterizes thepathloss difference using the NLM component 310, the pathloss receivingcomponent 312 can compute the pathloss difference using the measuredpathloss of an access point in the set of access points acquired fromNLM component 310 along with an assumed pathloss of serving access point304 (e.g., 90 decibel (db) coverage radius based on downlinktransmission power). In either example, Tx power cap computing component314 can determine a common transmission power cap for devicescommunicating with serving access point 304, such as device 302, basedat least in part on the pathloss difference CDF or other computedpathloss differences to access points in the set of access points. Forexample, Tx power cap computing component 314 can determine the commontransmission power cap based at least in part on a pathloss to an accesspoint in the set of access point having the lowest pathloss measurement,PL_(M)(i), or pathloss difference measurement, PL_(M)(i)−PL_(S).

For example, Tx power cap computing component 314 can determine apathloss threshold for the set of access points based at least in parton the previously determined CDF or pathloss difference CDF. Forexample, the pathloss threshold can be determined based at least in parton one or more reported pathloss differences in the CDF. In one example,Tx power cap computing component 314 can determine the pathlossthreshold to be a certain percentile calculation of the pathlossdifferences in the CDF (e.g., the lowest reported pathloss difference, an-percentile of lowest reported pathloss differences, etc.). For atleast a portion of the access points for which pathloss information isreceived, Tx power cap computing component 314 can compute referencetransmission powers corresponding to the portion of the access pointsthat can be used for a transmission power cap readjustment trigger atthe one or more devices. For example, the reference transmission powerscan be similar to individual transmission power caps computed for eachof the access points based on pathloss measurements thereto.

In one example, Tx power cap computing component 314 can compute thereference transmission powers according to the following formula or asimilar formula:TxPwr_ref(i)=PL_thres(i)+No_(M)(i)−Δ_(M)(i)where PL_thres(i) is the pathloss threshold for a given ith accesspoint, No_(M)(i) is the noise floor for the ith access point, andΔ_(M)(i) is the capping threshold, as described. For example,PL_thres(i) can be a minimum, maximum, average, etc., pathloss to theaccess point as measured by various devices. It is to be appreciatedthat a device is unlikely to interfere with the ith access point wherethe device's transmission power is below the reference transmissionpower. Thus, for example, Tx power cap computing component 314 candetermine the common transmission power cap or a reporting thresholdbased at least in part on the following formula or a similar formula:

${TxPwr\_ thres} = {\min\limits_{i}\left( {{TxPwr\_ ref}(i)} \right)}$For example, the common transmission power cap can also be referred toas a reporting threshold, which device 302 can utilize to determine whento notify serving access point 304 of a transmission power used bydevice 302. In another example, the reporting threshold can be adifference from the common transmission power cap. Thus, where thereporting threshold is used to determine when to notify serving accesspoint 304 of the transmission power, exceeding the common transmissionpower cap can be prevented. The above value can be referred to in thefollowing examples as a reporting threshold, though the concepts can beapplied for a common transmission power cap as well, where differentfrom a reporting threshold. Thus, Tx power cap providing component 316can communicate the reporting threshold to device 302. Tx power capreceiving component 212 can obtain the reporting threshold, asdescribed.

In this example, cap adjustment triggering component 306 can determinewhen transmission power of the device 302 is nearing, has reached, orexceeded the reporting threshold. Upon occurrence of this event, capadjustment triggering component 306 can notify serving access point 304,and/or can provide a current transmission power of device 302 thereto.Measurement requesting component 320 can accordingly determine one ormore access points in the set of access points described above havingTxPwr_ref(i), as previously computed, below the reported transmissionpower at device 302 to further reduce signaling load. Measurementrequesting component 320 can request that device 302 report, to theserving access point 304, pathloss to the determined access points(e.g., which can include access point 206). In another example, pathlossmeasuring component 208 can measure pathloss to one or more accesspoints, and pathloss reporting component 210 can communicate thepathloss measurements to serving access point 304 based at least in parton cap adjustment triggering component 306 determining that transmissionpower of device 302 is nearing, at, or exceeding the reportingthreshold.

For example, measurement request receiving component 308 can obtain therequest for performing additional measurements and/or an indication ofthe access points for which pathloss measurements are desired, andpathloss measuring component 208 can again determine pathloss to theaccess points from signals received therefrom. Pathloss reportingcomponent 210 can report the pathloss measurement(s) to serving accesspoint 304. Pathloss receiving component 312 can obtain the pathlossmeasurements of the access points (e.g., the access points having thereference transmission power below the power reported by device 302, asdescribed). The access points for which pathloss measuring component 208determines a pathloss can be referred to herein as monitored accesspoints. Tx power cap computing component 314 can adjust the transmissionpower cap for the device as related to the access points based at leastin part on the following formula or a similar formula:Max_(—) TxPwr(k)=PL_(M)(k)+No_(M)(k)−Δ_(M)(k)where PL_(M)(k), No_(M)(k), and Δ_(M)(k) are respectively the reportedpathloss, noise floor, and capping threshold for the kth reportedmonitored access point. Accordingly, the adjusted transmission power capfor the device 302 can be computed as:

${TxPwr\_ Cap} = {\max\left( {{\min\limits_{k}\left( {{Max\_ TxPwr}(k)} \right)},{{TxPwr\_ thres} + \delta}} \right)}$where margin δ is set to ensure the serving access point 304 can receivepathloss reports from the device 302 though transmission power is capped(e.g., since the device may not report pathloss whereTxPwr_Cap≦TxPwr_thres+δ. In any case, Tx power cap providing component316 can communicate the adjusted transmission power cap to device 302,and device 302 can utilize the transmission power cap in communicatingwith serving access point 304. In another example, it is to beappreciated that the cap adjustment triggering component 306 can againnotify serving access point 304 if the transmission power at device 302is at or at least a threshold level from the adjusted transmission powercap.

In this regard, excessive signaling can be mitigated in the wirelessnetwork as pathloss is reported by device 302 when transmission power isat or nearing the common transmission power cap for the set of accesspoints, and not necessarily continuously. The signaling is furtherlessened based at least in part on device 302 reporting pathloss foraccess points having a reference transmission power below the powerreported for device 302, and not necessarily all access points in theset.

In another example, received power of the device 302 at serving accesspoint 304 can be a trigger for adjusting a transmission power capinstead of or in addition to the common transmission power cap (e.g.,where the received power is above a threshold level). For example, asdescribed, measurement requesting component 320 can request a pathlossmeasurement from device 302 and/or one or more other devices to servingaccess point 304 as well as one or more other access points, such asaccess point 206. In this regard, measurement request receivingcomponent 308 can obtain the request, pathloss measuring component 208can determine pathloss to serving access point 304 and other accesspoints based at least in part on signals received therefrom, andpathloss reporting component 210 can report the pathloss measurement(s)to serving access point 304. Cap adjustment triggering component 318 candetermine a threshold received power for device 302 based at least inpart on the pathloss measurements or one or more other signals receivedtherefrom for triggering a transmission power cap adjustment.

For example, cap adjustment triggering component 318 can determine thethreshold received power according to the following formula or a similarformula:RxPwr_thres=Func(PL_(M)−PL_(S))+No_(M)−Δ_(M)where Func(PL_(M)−PL_(S)) represents a function of the statistics ofPL_(M)−PL_(S), as described previously, such as a minimum function, an-percentile function of the pathloss difference CDF, and/or the like.The aforementioned formula can be justified based at least in part onthe following. The power of the device 302 at the serving access point304 can be expressed as:RxPwr_(S) =TxPwr−PL_(S)where TxPwr is the transmit power at device 302, and PL_(S) is pathlossfrom device 302 to serving access point 304. To control interference,received power at one or more other access points, such as access point,can be limited as:RxPwr_(M) =TxPwr−PL_(M)<No_(M)−Δ_(M)where here PL_(M), No_(M), and Δ_(M) are respectively the reportedpathloss, noise floor, and capping threshold for the one or more otheraccess points. Combining this with the preceding formula can render thefollowing:Thus, the function for cap adjustment triggering component 318determining the received power threshold can be determined according tothis condition.

For example, similarly as described above, measurement requestingcomponent 320 can request pathloss measurements from one or more devices(e.g., upon initialization), pathloss receiving component 312 can obtainthe measurements and construct a CDF, pathloss difference CDF based onpathloss difference with respect to pathloss of serving access point 304at the device, etc. Based at least in part on the pathloss differenceCDF, for example, cap adjustment triggering component 318 can determinea received power threshold relating to an ith access point as:RxPwr_thres(i)=Func(PL_(M)(i)−PL_(S))+No_(M)(i)−Δ_(M)(i)

Thus, cap adjustment triggering component 318 can determine a receivedpower of device 302, and where the received power is greater thanRxPwr_thres(i) for an ith access point, such as access point 206,measurement requesting component 320 can configure device 302 to reportone or more pathloss measurements for adjusting the transmission powercap, as described previously. In this example, the transmission powercap for device 302 relating to the access point can be computed as:Max_(—) TxPwr(i)=PL_(M)(i)+No_(M)(i)−Δ_(M)(i)and for multiple access points for which received power of the device302 exceeds the threshold level, transmission power cap for the devicecan be computed as:

${TxPwr\_ Cap} = {\min\limits_{i}\left( {{Max\_ TxPwr}(i)} \right)}$Thus, signaling in the wireless network can be reduced since pathloss isreported when the device 302 received power is at or exceeds thethreshold, and for corresponding access points; not necessarily allaccess points in the set, as described.

Moreover, for example, Tx power cap computing component 314 candetermine the capping threshold Δ_(M)(i) for one or more access pointsbased on one or more parameters, such as a type of an access point(e.g., of access point 206 or other access points). In one example,Δ_(M)(i) for access point 206 can be 10 db where access point 206 is amacrocell access point, 5 db where a picocell access point, 0 db where afemtocell access point, etc.; thus more protection can be provided thelower the value of Δ_(M)(i). In another example, Δ_(M)(i) can beadditionally or alternatively computed based at least in part on anumber of devices served by serving access point 304. For example,Δ_(M)(i) can be computed as:

${{\overset{\sim}{\Delta}}_{M}(i)} = {{\Delta_{M}(i)} + \left\lbrack \frac{{Current\_ Served}{\_ Device}{\_ Num}}{{Max\_ Served}{\_ Device}{\_ Num}} \right\rbrack}$where Δ_(M)(i) can be computed based on a type of access point 206, asdescribed. Thus, the Tx power cap computing component 314 computes thecapping threshold based at least in part on the capacity at the accesspoint and the type thereof. Thus, for example, where an access pointserves a lesser number of devices, the capping threshold can be lower toallow the devices to have similar interference.

FIG. 4 depicts an example wireless communication system 400 foradjusting a transmission power cap for a device. System 400 comprises adevice 402 that communicates with a serving access point 404 to receiveaccess to a wireless network. System 400 also comprises an access point406, with which device 402 can potentially interfere (which can includeinterfering with devices communicating with access point 406) whiletransmitting signals to serving access point 404. In this regard, forexample, serving access point 404 and/or access point 406 can bedeployed within a vicinity of one another. As described, device 402 canbe a UE, modem, etc., serving access point 404 and/or access point 406can each be a macrocell, femtocell, or picocell access point, an/or thelike.

Device 402 can comprise a pathloss measuring component 208 fordetermining a pathloss to one or more access points, a pathlossreporting component 210 for communicating the pathloss to one or moresimilar or different access points, and a Tx power cap receivingcomponent 212 for obtaining a transmission power cap based at least inpart on the reported pathloss. Device 402 also comprises a measurementrequest receiving component 308 for obtaining a request to performadditional pathloss measurements of one or more access points.

Serving access point 404 comprises an optional NLM component 310 forreceiving one or more signals from one or more access points fordetermining a transmit power, determining an access point for monitoringin computing a transmission power cap for a device, etc., a pathlossreceiving component 312 for obtaining a pathloss measurement to one ormore access points from a device, and a Tx power cap computing component314 for determining a transmission power cap for the device based atleast in part on the pathloss measurement(s). Serving access point 404can additionally comprise a Tx power cap providing component 316 forcommunicating the transmission power cap to the device, a measurementrequesting component 320 for communicating a request to one or moredevices to perform additional pathloss measurements, and an interferencereport receiving component 408 for obtaining one or more parameters fromthe one or more access point related to interference by one or moredevices served by serving access point 404.

Access point 406 comprises an interference detecting component 410 fordetermining interference from one or more devices communicating with adifferent access point, and an interference reporting component 412 forcommunicating one or more parameters related to the interference to thedifferent access point.

According to an example, device 402 can interfere with access point 406at least on some level when transmitting to serving access point 404.Interference detecting component 410 can measure interference fromdevice 402 and/or other devices communicating with serving access point404 and/or other access points. For example, interference detectingcomponent 410 can receive signals from the device 402 or other devices,and can store an identifier related to the signal (e.g., a scramblingcode, an identifier from a decoded portion of the signal, or otherparameter for identifying device 402 and/or serving access point 404,etc.) along with a level of interference (e.g., an interference overthermal (IoT), or similar measurement).

Upon occurrence of an event or other trigger, interference reportingcomponent 412 can transmit interference information to serving accesspoint 404. In one example, interference reporting component 412 canindicate the interference to serving access point 404 based at least inpart on a timer. In another example, interference reporting component412 can indicate the interference based at least in part on interferencefrom one or more devices, or a total level of interference, meeting orexceeding a threshold level (e.g., a threshold IoT). In either example,interference detecting component 410 can determine devices thatdominantly interfere with access point 406. For example, this can relateto the top n-percentile of devices, a number of devices, devices with anassociated IoT over a threshold level, etc. For the purposes of thisdiscussion, this can include device 402.

Interference reporting component 412, in this example, can identify oneor more access points in the vicinity to which to indicate theinterference. For example, this can be based at least in part ondetermining that devices interfering with access point 406 arecommunicating with the one or more access points, such as serving accesspoint 404. In one example, interference reporting component 412indicates access points to which interfering devices relate based atleast in part on a scrambling code used by the device. In an example,access points can be associated with a range of scrambling codes, andthe association can be communicated to other access points. For example,an HMS, OAM, etc., can associate the access points with the scramblingcodes and/or indicate such associations to other access points, asdescribed. Thus, interference reporting component 412 can determine ascrambling code used by device 402 is within the range associated withserving access point 404.

Upon identifying one or more related access points, interferencereporting component 412 can transmit information regarding theinterference to the one or more related access points. For example, theinformation can include a total interference at access point 406 (e.g.,as caused by the device and/or other devices), a list of deviceidentifiers that indicate the dominant interfering devices, etc. In thisexample, interference detecting component 410 determines device 402 is adominant interferer, and can transmit the interference report includingan identifier of device 402 to serving access point 404 (e.g., over awired or wireless backhaul connection). Interference report receivingcomponent 408 can obtain the interference report from access point 406,and can determine one or more devices indicated in the report served byserving access point 404.

Accordingly, measurement requesting component 320 can transmit a requestto the one or more devices, including device 402, to provide one or morepathloss measurements (e.g., of the set of access points initiallydiscovered by serving access point 404, an access point 406 from whichan interference report is received, etc.). In another example,measurement requesting component 320 can request pathloss measurementsfrom additional devices served by serving access point 404, as describedabove. In this example, measurement request receiving component 308 canobtain the request, pathloss measuring component 208 can measurepathloss to one or more access points, and pathloss reporting component210 can indicate the measured pathloss to serving access point 404, asdescribed. In addition, pathloss receiving component 312 can obtain thepathloss measurements, Tx power cap computing component 314 candetermine a transmission power cap based at least in part on thepathloss measurements, and Tx power cap providing component 316 cancommunicate the transmission power cap to device 402, which can bereceived by Tx power cap receiving component 212, as described.

In one example, where interference report receiving component 408repetitively obtains interference reports from access point 406 (e.g., athreshold number of times in a specified time period), Tx power capcomputing component 314 can increase the transmission power cap fordevice 402 and/or other interfering devices served by serving accesspoint 404 by the difference between the indicated interference level anda desired level of interference. For example, the desired interferencelevel can be received from access point 406 (e.g., in the interferencereport), an HMS, OAM, etc. Thus, in the foregoing examples, transmissionpower cap adjustment is based on actual interference experienced at theaccess point 406, which can reduce signaling as the access point 406provides interference reports when interference meets or exceeds athreshold level, for example. In addition, this mechanism forcontrolling device power can reduce interference caused by substantiallyany transmitted signal, including pilot signals.

Referring to FIGS. 5-11, example methodologies relating to utilizing atransmission power cap to mitigate device interference in a wirelessnetwork are illustrated. While, for purposes of simplicity ofexplanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series ofacts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies arenot limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance withone or more embodiments, occur in different orders and/or concurrentlywith other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, it isto be appreciated that a methodology could alternatively be representedas a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a statediagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implementa methodology in accordance with one or more embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 5, an example methodology 500 is displayed thatfacilitates determining a transmission power cap for a device. At 502, apathloss measurement to at least one access point can be received from adevice. As described, this can be a pathloss to a serving access point,another access point in the vicinity of the device, and/or the like.Moreover, as described, the pathloss measurement can comprise one ormore power measurements, such as a RSCP, CPICH transmission power, etc.At 504, a transmission power cap can be computed for the one or moredevices based at least in part on the pathloss measurement. In anexample, this can be computed based additionally on a noise floordetermined for the at least one access point, a capping threshold, etc.For example, as described, the transmission power cap can be computed asspecific to the device to mitigate interference with the at least oneaccess point, as common for the access point or other access point basedon the pathloss measurement or other pathloss measurements from otherdevices, etc. In addition, the one or more devices can include thedevice from which the pathloss measurement is received. At 506, the oneor more devices can be caused to communicate according to thetransmission power cap. For example, this can include communicating thetransmission power cap to the device. In any case, the device canutilize the transmission power cap in communicating with a servingaccess point to mitigate interference with the at least one access pointor other access points, as described.

Turning to FIG. 6, an example methodology 600 is displayed thatfacilitates determining pathloss differences between one or more accesspoints and a serving access point. At 602, a downlink transmission poweris determined based at least in part on information received from one ormore access points. For example, the information can include one or moresignals, and the downlink transmission power can be determined so as notto interfere with the one or more access points based on a strength ofthe signals. At 604, an initial set of the one or more access points canbe determined for monitoring to determine one or more transmission powercaps. As described, this can be determined using a co-located NLM or oneor more other devices to detect signals from the one or more accesspoints. In addition, the set of access points can be selected based atleast in part on a type of the access point, an identifier thereof, aPSC used by the access points, and/or the like. In another example, asdescribed, one or more served devices can add access points to the list(e.g., based at least in part on detecting PSCs from received signalsthat are not in the list received by access point).

Once the set of access points is determined, at 606, one or more serveddevices can be configured to measure and report pathloss to at least aportion of the set of the one or more access points. In this regard, theone or more served devices can measure pathloss to at least a portion ofthe set of the one or more access points, as described, and can reportthe pathloss. This can be referred to as a training period. At 608, apathloss CDF can be constructed for at least a portion of the set of theone or more access points based on received pathloss measurements. At610, a pathloss difference CDF can be constructed for the at least theportion of the set of the one or more access points based at least inpart on the pathloss CDF. As described, for example, this can includedetermining a pathloss difference between each access point in thepathloss CDF and a serving access point. The pathloss difference CDF, asdescribed above and further herein, can be utilized to determine acommon transmission power cap, adjust a transmission power cap for adevice, etc.

Referring to FIG. 7, an example methodology 700 for computing a commontransmission power cap is illustrated. At 702, a pathloss difference CDFcorresponding to one or more access points can be constructed. Forexample, this can be performed as described above, based at least inpart on a difference between one or more pathloss measurements to one ormore access points from one or more devices and a pathloss measurementto a serving access point from the one or more devices. At 704, areference transmission power can be determined for at least a portion ofthe one or more access points. As described, in an example, thereference transmission power can be computed similarly to a transmissionpower cap for each of the one or more access points (e.g., based atleast in part on a pathloss measurement, noise floor, capping threshold,etc.). In one example, a pathloss threshold can be used to compute thereference transmission power for an access point, which can be amaximum, minimum, average, etc., of one or more pathloss measurements ofone or more devices to the access point. At 706, one or more serveddevices can be configured to report a transmission power upon meeting orexceeding a threshold transmission power computed based on the referencetransmission powers. As described, for example, the thresholdtransmission power can be a minimum of the computed referencetransmission powers. This can also be a common transmission power cap,as described above for example. Upon a device reporting a transmissionpower based on meeting or exceeding the threshold transmission power,for example, the transmission power cap for the device can be adjustedto mitigate interference to one or more access points.

Turning to FIG. 8, an example methodology 800 is depicted for adjustinga transmission power cap for a device based at least in part ondetermining the device transmission power is at or exceeds a referencetransmission power. At 802, an indication that a device transmissionpower is at or at least at a threshold level from a transmission powercap can be received. For example, the transmission power cap can be acommon transmission power cap computed, as described above (e.g., basedon reference transmission powers for various access points), andprovided to the device. Thus, the device can report the transmissionpower, as described. At 804, one or more served devices can beconfigured to report pathloss measurements for access points having areference transmission power below the device transmission power. Asdescribed, the served devices can include the device, and can performthe measurements for the access points as indicated and/or receivedpathloss reports can be filtered to obtain those of the intended accesspoints, etc. At 806, an adjusted transmission power cap can be computedfor the device based at least in part on the received pathlossmeasurements.

Referring to FIG. 9, an example methodology 900 that facilitatesdetermining a transmission power for a device based on a received powerthereof is illustrated. At 902, a pathloss difference CDF can beconstructed corresponding to one or more access points. As describedpreviously, this can be based at least in part on a difference between apathloss of the one or more access points and a serving access point ofone or more related device as measured by the one or more relateddevices. At 904, a received power threshold can be determined based atleast in part on the pathloss difference CDF. For example, as described,this can be computed as a function of a pathloss to one or more of theaccess point and the serving access point, and can be computed for eachof the one or more access points. At 906, it can be determined that areceived power of a device is at or at least a threshold level from thereceived power threshold. For example, this can be based at least inpart on measuring a power of one or more received signals from thedevice. At 908, the device can be configured to report pathlossmeasurements to one or more other access points. In addition, otherdevices can be so configured, in one example. At 910, a transmissionpower cap can be computed for the device based at least in part onreceiving the pathloss measurements from the device, as described.

FIG. 10 depicts an example methodology 1000 for determining atransmission power cap for a device. At 1002, an interference report canbe received from an access point indicating one or more devices causinginterference thereto. As described, the interference report can includea total level of interference at the access point, an indication of oneor more interfering devices (e.g., a threshold number or percentile ofdevices having the highest IoT, etc.), and/or the like. At 1004, atransmission power cap can be computed for the one or more devices basedat least in part on the interference report. Thus, for example, for atleast a portion of the devices indicated in the interference report, thetransmission power cap can be adjusted using one or more mechanismsdescribed above (e.g., obtain pathloss reports to the access point andaccordingly adjust transmission power cap for the devices, etc.). At1006, the transmission power cap can be communicated to the one or moredevices.

Turning to FIG. 11, an example methodology 1100 is displayed thatfacilitates indicating a transmission power relative to a transmissionpower cap. At 1102, a transmission power cap can be received from anaccess point. As described, this can be based at least in part onreporting pathloss measurements to the access points, etc. At 1104, itcan be determined that a transmission power utilized to transmit one ormore signals to the access point is at or at least a threshold levelfrom the transmission power cap. At 1106, the access point can benotified that the transmission power is at or at least the thresholdlevel from the transmission power cap. Thus, in an example, the accesspoint can adjust the transmission power cap, as described previously.

It will be appreciated that, in accordance with one or more aspectsdescribed herein, inferences can be made regarding computing atransmission power cap, determining to adjust a transmission power cap,and/or the like, as described. As used herein, the term to “infer” or“inference” refers generally to the process of reasoning about orinferring states of the system, environment, and/or user from a set ofobservations as captured via events and/or data. Inference can beemployed to identify a specific context or action, or can generate aprobability distribution over states, for example. The inference can beprobabilistic—that is, the computation of a probability distributionover states of interest based on a consideration of data and events.Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composinghigher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Such inferenceresults in the construction of new events or actions from a set ofobserved events and/or stored event data, whether or not the events arecorrelated in close temporal proximity, and whether the events and datacome from one or several event and data sources.

FIG. 12 is an illustration of a mobile device 1200 that facilitatesreporting pathloss measurements for receiving a transmission power cap.Mobile device 1200 comprises a receiver 1202 that receives a signalfrom, for instance, a receive antenna (not shown), performs typicalactions on (e.g., filters, amplifies, downconverts, etc.) the receivedsignal, and digitizes the conditioned signal to obtain samples. Receiver1202 can comprise a demodulator 1204 that can demodulate receivedsymbols and provide them to a processor 1206 for channel estimation.Processor 1206 can be a processor dedicated to analyzing informationreceived by receiver 1202 and/or generating information for transmissionby a transmitter 1208, a processor that controls one or more componentsof mobile device 1200, and/or a processor that both analyzes informationreceived by receiver 1202, generates information for transmission bytransmitter 1208, and controls one or more components of mobile device1200.

Mobile device 1200 can additionally comprise memory 1210 that isoperatively coupled to processor 1206 and that can store data to betransmitted, received data, information related to available channels,data associated with analyzed signal and/or interference strength,information related to an assigned channel, power, rate, or the like,and any other suitable information for estimating a channel andcommunicating via the channel. Memory 1210 can additionally storeprotocols and/or algorithms associated with estimating and/or utilizinga channel (e.g., performance based, capacity based, etc.).

It will be appreciated that the data store (e.g., memory 1210) describedherein can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or caninclude both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way of illustration,and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include read only memory(ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memorycan include random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cachememory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available inmany forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhancedSDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).The memory 1210 of the subject systems and methods is intended tocomprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable typesof memory.

Processor 1206 can further be optionally operatively coupled to apathloss measuring component 1212, which can be similar to pathlossmeasuring component 208, a pathloss reporting component 1214, which canbe similar to pathloss reporting component 210, a Tx power cap receivingcomponent 1216, which can be similar to Tx power cap receiving component212, a cap adjustment triggering component 1218, which can be similar tocap adjustment triggering component 306, and/or a measurement requestreceiving component 1220, which can be similar to measurement requestreceiving component 308. Mobile device 1200 still further comprises amodulator 1222 that modulates signals for transmission by transmitter1208 to, for instance, a base station, another mobile device, etc.Moreover, for example, mobile device 1200 can comprise multipletransmitters 1208 for multiple network interfaces, as described.Although depicted as being separate from the processor 1206, it is to beappreciated that the pathloss measuring component 1212, pathlossreporting component 1214, Tx power cap receiving component 1216, capadjustment triggering component 1218, measurement request receivingcomponent 1220, demodulator 1204, and/or modulator 1222 can be part ofthe processor 1206 or multiple processors (not shown).

FIG. 13 is an illustration of a system 1300 that facilitatescommunicating with one or more devices using wireless communications.System 1300 comprises a base station 1302, which can be substantiallyany base station (e.g., a small base station, such as a femtocell,picocell, etc., mobile base station . . . ), a relay, etc., having areceiver 1310 that receives signal(s) from one or more mobile devices1304 through a plurality of receive antennas 1306 (e.g., which can be ofmultiple network technologies, as described), and a transmitter 1338that transmits to the one or more mobile devices 1304 through aplurality of transmit antennas 1308 (e.g., which can be of multiplenetwork technologies, as described). In addition, in one example,transmitter 1338 can transmit to the mobile devices 1304 over a wiredfront link. Receiver 1310 can receive information from one or morereceive antennas 1306 and is operatively associated with a demodulator1312 that demodulates received information. In addition, in an example,receiver 1310 can receive from a wired backhaul link. Demodulatedsymbols are analyzed by a processor 1314 that can be similar to theprocessor described above with regard to FIG. 12, and which is coupledto a memory 1316 that stores information related to estimating a signal(e.g., pilot) strength and/or interference strength, data to betransmitted to or received from mobile device(s) 1304 (or a disparatebase station (not shown)), and/or any other suitable information relatedto performing the various actions and functions set forth herein.

Processor 1314 is further optionally coupled to a NLM component 1318,which can be similar to NLM component 310, a pathloss receivingcomponent 1320, which can be similar to pathloss receiving components214 and/or 312, a Tx power cap computing component 1322, which can besimilar to Tx power cap computing components 216 and/or 314, and/or a Txpower cap providing component 1324, which can be similar to Tx power capproviding components 218 and/or 316. Processor 1314 can further beoptionally coupled to a cap adjustment triggering component 1326, whichcan be similar to cap adjustment triggering component 318, and/or ameasurement requesting component 1328, which can be similar tomeasurement requesting component 320. Moreover, for example, processor1314 can also optionally be coupled to an interference report receivingcomponent 1330, which can be similar to interference report receivingcomponent 408, an interference detecting component 1332, which can besimilar to interference detecting component 410, and/or an interferencereporting component 1334, which can be similar to interference reportingcomponent 412.

Moreover, for example, processor 1314 can modulate signals to betransmitted using modulator 1336, and transmit modulated signals usingtransmitter 1338. Transmitter 1338 can transmit signals to mobiledevices 1304 over Tx antennas 1308. Furthermore, although depicted asbeing separate from the processor 1314, it is to be appreciated that theNLM component 1318, pathloss receiving component 1320, Tx power capcomputing component 1322, Tx power cap providing component 1324, capadjustment triggering component 1326, measurement requesting component1328, interference report receiving component 1330, interferencedetecting component 1332, interference reporting component 1334,demodulator 1312, and/or modulator 1336 can be part of the processor1314 or multiple processors (not shown), and/or stored as instructionsin memory 1316 for execution by processor 1314.

With reference to FIG. 14, illustrated is a system 1400 for determininga transmission power cap for a device. For example, system 1400 canreside at least partially within an access point, etc. It is to beappreciated that system 1400 is represented as including functionalblocks, which can be functional blocks that represent functionsimplemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g.,firmware). System 1400 includes a logical grouping 1402 of electricalcomponents that can act in conjunction. For instance, logical grouping1402 can include an electrical component for receiving a pathlossmeasurement to at least one access point from a device 1404. Forexample, the pathloss measurements can be received based at least inpart on a request, in one example, and/or can be received with pathlossmeasurements from other devices to the same or other access points, etc.Further, logical grouping 1402 can comprise an electrical component forcomputing a transmission power cap for one or more devices based atleast in part on the pathloss measurement 1406.

As described, for example, electrical component 1406 can compute thetransmission power cap further based on a noise floor, power cappingthreshold, etc. In addition, in one example, the transmission power capcan be specific to the device, common for the one or more devices,and/or the like. In addition, as described, computing the transmissionpower cap can include a adjusting a transmission power cap for thedevice based on one or more triggers or other events. Additionally,logical grouping 1402 can comprise an electrical component for causingthe one or more devices to communicate according to the transmissionpower cap 1408. For example, electrical component 1404 can includepathloss receiving components 214 and/or 312, and/or pathloss measuringcomponent 208, as described above. In addition, for example, electricalcomponent 1406, in an aspect, can include a Tx power cap computingcomponent 216 and/or 314, as described above. Moreover, electricalcomponent 1408 can include a Tx power cap providing component 218 and/or316, and/or a Tx power cap receiving component 212, as described.

Additionally, system 1400 can include a memory 1410 that retainsinstructions for executing functions associated with the electricalcomponents 1404, 1406, and 1408. While shown as being external to memory1410, it is to be understood that one or more of the electricalcomponents 1404, 1406, and 1408 can exist within memory 1410. In oneexample, electrical components 1404, 1406, and 1408 can comprise atleast one processor, or each electrical component 1404, 1406, and 1408can be a corresponding module of at least one processor. Moreover, in anadditional or alternative example, electrical components 1404, 1406, and1408 can be a computer program product comprising a computer readablemedium, where each electrical component 1404, 1406, and 1408 can becorresponding code.

With reference to FIG. 15, illustrated is a system 1500 that notifies anaccess point when a transmission power is at or nearing a transmissionpower cap. For example, system 1500 can reside at least partially withina device, etc. It is to be appreciated that system 1500 is representedas including functional blocks, which can be functional blocks thatrepresent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combinationthereof (e.g., firmware). System 1500 includes a logical grouping 1502of electrical components that can act in conjunction. For instance,logical grouping 1502 can include an electrical component for obtaininga transmission power cap from an access point 1504. As described, forexample, the transmission power cap can be received based on pathlossmeasurements communicated to the access point (e.g., of the access pointor surrounding access points). Moreover, for example, the transmissionpower cap can be a common transmission power cap computed forsubstantially all devices communicating with the access point.

Further, logical grouping 1502 can comprise an electrical component fornotifying the access point that a transmission power utilized totransmit one or more signals to the access point is at or at least athreshold level from the transmission power cap 1506. As described forexample, an adjusted transmission power cap can be received based atleast in part on the notification. For example, electrical component1504 can include a Tx power cap receiving component 212, as describedabove. In addition, for example, electrical component 1506, in anaspect, can include a cap adjustment triggering component 306, asdescribed above.

Additionally, system 1500 can include a memory 1508 that retainsinstructions for executing functions associated with the electricalcomponents 1504 and 1506. While shown as being external to memory 1508,it is to be understood that one or more of the electrical components1504 and 1506 can exist within memory 1508. In one example, electricalcomponents 1504 and 1506 can comprise at least one processor, or eachelectrical component 1504 and 1506 can be a corresponding module of atleast one processor. Moreover, in an additional or alternative example,electrical components 1504 and 1506 can be a computer program productcomprising a computer readable medium, where each electrical component1504 and 1506 can be corresponding code.

Referring now to FIG. 16, a wireless communication system 1600 isillustrated in accordance with various embodiments presented herein.System 1600 comprises a base station 1602 that can include multipleantenna groups. For example, one antenna group can include antennas 1604and 1606, another group can comprise antennas 1608 and 1610, and anadditional group can include antennas 1612 and 1614. Two antennas areillustrated for each antenna group; however, more or fewer antennas canbe utilized for each group. Base station 1602 can additionally include atransmitter chain and a receiver chain, each of which can in turncomprise a plurality of components associated with signal transmissionand reception (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators,demultiplexers, antennas, etc.), as is appreciated.

Base station 1602 can communicate with one or more mobile devices suchas mobile device 1616 and mobile device 1622; however, it is to beappreciated that base station 1602 can communicate with substantiallyany number of mobile devices similar to mobile devices 1616 and 1622.Mobile devices 1616 and 1622 can be, for example, cellular phones, smartphones, laptops, handheld communication devices, handheld computingdevices, satellite radios, global positioning systems, PDAs, and/or anyother suitable device for communicating over wireless communicationsystem 1600. As depicted, mobile device 1616 is in communication withantennas 1612 and 1614, where antennas 1612 and 1614 transmitinformation to mobile device 1616 over a forward link 1618 and receiveinformation from mobile device 1616 over a reverse link 1620. Moreover,mobile device 1622 is in communication with antennas 1604 and 1606,where antennas 1604 and 1606 transmit information to mobile device 1622over a forward link 1624 and receive information from mobile device 1622over a reverse link 1626. In a frequency division duplex (FDD) system,forward link 1618 can utilize a different frequency band than that usedby reverse link 1620, and forward link 1624 can employ a differentfrequency band than that employed by reverse link 1626, for example.Further, in a time division duplex (TDD) system, forward link 1618 andreverse link 1620 can utilize a common frequency band and forward link1624 and reverse link 1626 can utilize a common frequency band.

Each group of antennas and/or the area in which they are designated tocommunicate can be referred to as a sector of base station 1602. Forexample, antenna groups can be designed to communicate to mobile devicesin a sector of the areas covered by base station 1602. In communicationover forward links 1618 and 1624, the transmitting antennas of basestation 1602 can utilize beamforming to improve signal-to-noise ratio offorward links 1618 and 1624 for mobile devices 1616 and 1622. Also,while base station 1602 utilizes beamforming to transmit to mobiledevices 1616 and 1622 scattered randomly through an associated coverage,mobile devices in neighboring cells can be subject to less interferenceas compared to a base station transmitting through a single antenna toall its mobile devices. Moreover, mobile devices 1616 and 1622 cancommunicate directly with one another using a peer-to-peer or ad hoctechnology as depicted. According to an example, system 1600 can be amultiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system. In addition,for example, base station 1602 can set a transmission power cap fordevice 1616 and/or 1622 based on one or more pathloss measurements toone or more access points, as described.

FIG. 17 shows an example wireless communication system 1700. Thewireless communication system 1700 depicts one base station 1710 and onemobile device 1750 for sake of brevity. However, it is to be appreciatedthat system 1700 can include more than one base station and/or more thanone mobile device, wherein additional base stations and/or mobiledevices can be substantially similar or different from example basestation 1710 and mobile device 1750 described below. In addition, it isto be appreciated that base station 1710 and/or mobile device 1750 canemploy the systems (FIGS. 1-4 and 13-16), mobile devices, (FIG. 12),and/or methods (FIGS. 5-11) described herein to facilitate wirelesscommunication there between. For example, components or functions of thesystems and/or methods described herein can be part of a memory 1732and/or 1772 or processors 1730 and/or 1770 described below, and/or canbe executed by processors 1730 and/or 1770 to perform the disclosedfunctions.

At base station 1710, traffic data for a number of data streams isprovided from a data source 1712 to a transmit (TX) data processor 1714.According to an example, each data stream can be transmitted over arespective antenna. TX data processor 1714 formats, codes, andinterleaves the traffic data stream based on a particular coding schemeselected for that data stream to provide coded data.

The coded data for each data stream can be multiplexed with pilot datausing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) techniques.Additionally or alternatively, the pilot symbols can be frequencydivision multiplexed (FDM), time division multiplexed (TDM), or codedivision multiplexed (CDM). The pilot data is typically a known datapattern that is processed in a known manner and can be used at mobiledevice 1750 to estimate channel response. The multiplexed pilot andcoded data for each data stream can be modulated (e.g., symbol mapped)based on a particular modulation scheme (e.g., binary phase-shift keying(BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying(M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM), etc.) selected forthat data stream to provide modulation symbols. The data rate, coding,and modulation for each data stream can be determined by instructionsperformed or provided by processor 1730.

The modulation symbols for the data streams can be provided to a TX MIMOprocessor 1720, which can further process the modulation symbols (e.g.,for OFDM). TX MIMO processor 1720 then provides N_(T) modulation symbolstreams to N_(T) transmitters (TMTR) 1722 a through 1722 t. In variousembodiments, TX MIMO processor 1720 applies beamforming weights to thesymbols of the data streams and to the antenna from which the symbol isbeing transmitted.

Each transmitter 1722 receives and processes a respective symbol streamto provide one or more analog signals, and further conditions (e.g.,amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog signals to provide amodulated signal suitable for transmission over the MIMO channel.Further, N_(T) modulated signals from transmitters 1722 a through 1722 tare transmitted from N_(T) antennas 1724 a through 1724 t, respectively.

At mobile device 1750, the transmitted modulated signals are received byN_(R) antennas 1752 a through 1752 r and the received signal from eachantenna 1752 is provided to a respective receiver (RCVR) 1754 a through1754 r. Each receiver 1754 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, anddownconverts) a respective signal, digitizes the conditioned signal toprovide samples, and further processes the samples to provide acorresponding “received” symbol stream.

An RX data processor 1760 can receive and process the N_(R) receivedsymbol streams from N_(R) receivers 1754 based on a particular receiverprocessing technique to provide N_(T) “detected” symbol streams. RX dataprocessor 1760 can demodulate, deinterleave, and decode each detectedsymbol stream to recover the traffic data for the data stream. Theprocessing by RX data processor 1760 is complementary to that performedby TX MIMO processor 1720 and TX data processor 1714 at base station1710.

The reverse link message can comprise various types of informationregarding the communication link and/or the received data stream. Thereverse link message can be processed by a TX data processor 1738, whichalso receives traffic data for a number of data streams from a datasource 1736, modulated by a modulator 1780, conditioned by transmitters1754 a through 1754 r, and transmitted back to base station 1710.

At base station 1710, the modulated signals from mobile device 1750 arereceived by antennas 1724, conditioned by receivers 1722, demodulated bya demodulator 1740, and processed by a RX data processor 1742 to extractthe reverse link message transmitted by mobile device 1750. Further,processor 1730 can process the extracted message to determine whichprecoding matrix to use for determining the beamforming weights.

Processors 1730 and 1770 can direct (e.g., control, coordinate, manage,etc.) operation at base station 1710 and mobile device 1750,respectively. Respective processors 1730 and 1770 can be associated withmemory 1732 and 1772 that store program codes and data. Processors 1730and 1770 can determine transmission power caps, determine that a triggeror event for adjusting the transmission power cap has occurred, and/orthe like, as described.

FIG. 18 illustrates a wireless communication system 1800, configured tosupport a number of users, in which the teachings herein may beimplemented. The system 1800 provides communication for multiple cells1802, such as, for example, macro cells 1802A-1802G, with each cellbeing serviced by a corresponding access node 1804 (e.g., access nodes1804A-1804G). As shown in FIG. 18, access terminals 1806 (e.g., accessterminals 1806A-1806L) can be dispersed at various locations throughoutthe system over time. Each access terminal 1806 can communicate with oneor more access nodes 1804 on a forward link (FL) and/or a reverse link(RL) at a given moment, depending upon whether the access terminal 1806is active and whether it is in soft handoff, for example. The wirelesscommunication system 1800 can provide service over a large geographicregion.

FIG. 19 illustrates an exemplary communication system 1900 where one ormore femto nodes are deployed within a network environment.Specifically, the system 1900 includes multiple femto nodes 1910A and1910B (e.g., femtocell nodes or H(e)NB) installed in a relatively smallscale network environment (e.g., in one or more user residences 1930).Each femto node 1910 can be coupled to a wide area network 1940 (e.g.,the Internet) and a mobile operator core network 1950 via a digitalsubscriber line (DSL) router, a cable modem, a wireless link, or otherconnectivity means (not shown). As will be discussed below, each femtonode 1910 can be configured to serve associated access terminals 1920(e.g., access terminal 1920A) and, optionally, alien access terminals1920 (e.g., access terminal 1920B). In other words, access to femtonodes 1910 can be restricted such that a given access terminal 1920 canbe served by a set of designated (e.g., home) femto node(s) 1910 but maynot be served by any non-designated femto nodes 1910 (e.g., a neighbor'sfemto node).

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of a coverage map 2000 where severaltracking areas 2002 (or routing areas or location areas) are defined,each of which includes several macro coverage areas 2004. Here, areas ofcoverage associated with tracking areas 2002A, 2002B, and 2002C aredelineated by the wide lines and the macro coverage areas 2004 arerepresented by the hexagons. The tracking areas 2002 also include femtocoverage areas 2006. In this example, each of the femto coverage areas2006 (e.g., femto coverage area 2006C) is depicted within a macrocoverage area 2004 (e.g., macro coverage area 2004B). It should beappreciated, however, that a femto coverage area 2006 may not lieentirely within a macro coverage area 2004. In practice, a large numberof femto coverage areas 2006 can be defined with a given tracking area2002 or macro coverage area 2004. Also, one or more pico coverage areas(not shown) can be defined within a given tracking area 2002 or macrocoverage area 2004.

Referring again to FIG. 19, the owner of a femto node 1910 can subscribeto mobile service, such as, for example, 3G mobile service, offeredthrough the mobile operator core network 1950. In addition, an accessterminal 1920 can be capable of operating both in macro environments andin smaller scale (e.g., residential) network environments. Thus, forexample, depending on the current location of the access terminal 1920,the access terminal 1920 can be served by an access node 1960 or by anyone of a set of femto nodes 1910 (e.g., the femto nodes 1910A and 1910Bthat reside within a corresponding user residence 1930). For example,when a subscriber is outside his home, he is served by a standard macrocell access node (e.g., node 1960) and when the subscriber is at home,he is served by a femto node (e.g., node 1910A). Here, it should beappreciated that a femto node 1910 can be backward compatible withexisting access terminals 1920.

A femto node 1910 can be deployed on a single frequency or, in thealternative, on multiple frequencies. Depending on the particularconfiguration, the single frequency or one or more of the multiplefrequencies can overlap with one or more frequencies used by a macrocell access node (e.g., node 1960). In some aspects, an access terminal1920 can be configured to connect to a preferred femto node (e.g., thehome femto node of the access terminal 1920) whenever such connectivityis possible. For example, whenever the access terminal 1920 is withinthe user's residence 1930, it can communicate with the home femto node1910.

In some aspects, if the access terminal 1920 operates within the mobileoperator core network 1950 but is not residing on its most preferrednetwork (e.g., as defined in a preferred roaming list), the accessterminal 1920 can continue to search for the most preferred network(e.g., femto node 1910) using a Better System Reselection (BSR), whichcan involve a periodic scanning of available systems to determinewhether better systems are currently available, and subsequent effortsto associate with such preferred systems. Using an acquisition tableentry (e.g., in a preferred roaming list), in one example, the accessterminal 1920 can limit the search for specific band and channel. Forexample, the search for the most preferred system can be repeatedperiodically. Upon discovery of a preferred femto node, such as femtonode 1910, the access terminal 1920 selects the femto node 1910 forcamping within its coverage area.

A femto node can be restricted in some aspects. For example, a givenfemto node can only provide certain services to certain accessterminals. In deployments with so-called restricted (or closed)association, a given access terminal can only be served by the macrocell mobile network and a defined set of femto nodes (e.g., the femtonodes 1910 that reside within the corresponding user residence 1930). Insome implementations, a femto node can be restricted to not provide, forat least one access terminal, at least one of: signaling, data access,registration, paging, or service.

In some aspects, a restricted femto node (which can also be referred toas a Closed Subscriber Group H(e)NB) is one that provides service to arestricted provisioned set of access terminals. This set can betemporarily or permanently extended as necessary. In some aspects, aClosed Subscriber Group (CSG) can be defined as the set of access nodes(e.g., femto nodes) that share a common access control list of accessterminals. A channel on which all femto nodes (or all restricted femtonodes) in a region operate can be referred to as a femto channel.

Various relationships can thus exist between a given femto node and agiven access terminal. For example, from the perspective of an accessterminal, an open femto node can refer to a femto node with norestricted association. A restricted femto node can refer to a femtonode that is restricted in some manner (e.g., restricted for associationand/or registration). A home femto node can refer to a femto node onwhich the access terminal is authorized to access and operate on. Aguest femto node can refer to a femto node on which an access terminalis temporarily authorized to access or operate on. An alien femto nodecan refer to a femto node on which the access terminal is not authorizedto access or operate on, except for perhaps emergency situations (e.g.,911 calls).

From a restricted femto node perspective, a home access terminal canrefer to an access terminal that authorized to access the restrictedfemto node. A guest access terminal can refer to an access terminal withtemporary access to the restricted femto node. An alien access terminalcan refer to an access terminal that does not have permission to accessthe restricted femto node, except for perhaps emergency situations, forexample, 911 calls (e.g., an access terminal that does not have thecredentials or permission to register with the restricted femto node).

For convenience, the disclosure herein describes various functionalityin the context of a femto node. It should be appreciated, however, thata pico node can provide the same or similar functionality as a femtonode, but for a larger coverage area. For example, a pico node can berestricted, a home pico node can be defined for a given access terminal,and so on.

A wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneouslysupport communication for multiple wireless access terminals. Asmentioned above, each terminal can communicate with one or more basestations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forwardlink (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the basestations to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers tothe communication link from the terminals to the base stations. Thiscommunication link can be established via a single-in-single-out system,a MIMO system, or some other type of system.

The various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, components,and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor,a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform thefunctions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be amicroprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. Aprocessor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices,e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration. Additionally, at least oneprocessor may comprise one or more modules operable to perform one ormore of the steps and/or actions described above. An exemplary storagemedium may be coupled to the processor, such that the processor can readinformation from, and write information to, the storage medium. In thealternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor.Further, in some aspects, the processor and the storage medium mayreside in an ASIC. Additionally, the ASIC may reside in a user terminal.In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside asdiscrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more aspects, the functions, methods, or algorithms describedmay be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combinationthereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored ortransmitted as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readablemedium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be anyavailable media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example,and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM,EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used tocarry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or datastructures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, substantiallyany connection may be termed a computer-readable medium. For example, ifsoftware is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote sourceusing a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digitalsubscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio,and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein,includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatiledisc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproducedata magnetically, while discs usually reproduce data optically withlasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within thescope of computer-readable media.

While the foregoing disclosure discusses illustrative aspects and/orembodiments, it should be noted that various changes and modificationscould be made herein without departing from the scope of the describedaspects and/or embodiments as defined by the appended claims.Furthermore, although elements of the described aspects and/orembodiments may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural iscontemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.Additionally, all or a portion of any aspect and/or embodiment may beutilized with all or a portion of any other aspect and/or embodiment,unless stated otherwise.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of determining to adjust a transmissionpower cap for a device to mitigate interference at least at an accesspoint, comprising: obtaining a transmission power cap from an accesspoint, wherein the transmission power cap is computed for a plurality ofdevices by the access point, and wherein the transmission power cap iscommon for the plurality of devices; determining that a transmissionpower of the device utilized to transmit one or more signals to theaccess point is at or at least at a threshold level from thetransmission power cap; and notifying the access point that thetransmission power of the device is at or is at least the thresholdlevel from the transmission power cap; and receiving an individuallyadjusted transmission power cap for the device from the access point inresponse to the notification, wherein the access point individuallyadjusts the transmission power cap for the device based on thenotification.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving arequest to perform one or more pathloss measurements from the accesspoint; performing the one or more pathloss measurements to one or moreother access points or the access point; and communicating the one ormore pathloss measurements to the access point.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein the individually adjusted transmission power cap for thedevice is received from the access point in response to thecommunicating the one or more pathloss measurements.
 4. An apparatus fordetermining to adjust a transmission power cap for a device to mitigateinterference at least at an access point, comprising: means forobtaining a transmission power cap from an access point, wherein thetransmission power cap is computed for a plurality of devices by theaccess point, and wherein the transmission power cap is common for theplurality of devices; means for notifying the access point that atransmission power of the device utilized to transmit one or moresignals to the access point is at or at least a threshold level from thetransmission power cap; and means for receiving an individually adjustedtransmission power cap for the device from the access point in responseto the notification, wherein the access point individually adjusts thetransmission power cap for the device based on the notification.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 4, further comprising: means for receiving a requestto perform one or more pathloss measurements from the access point;means for performing the one or more pathloss measurements to one ormore other access points or the access point; and means forcommunicating the one or more pathloss measurements to the access point.6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the means for receiving receivesthe individually adjusted transmission power cap from the access pointin response to the communicating the one or more pathloss measurements.7. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executablecode for determining to adjust a transmission power cap for a device tomitigate interference at least at an access point, comprising: code forcausing at least one computer to obtain a transmission power cap from anaccess point, wherein the transmission power cap is computed for aplurality of devices by the access point, and wherein the transmissionpower cap is common for the plurality of devices; code for causing theat least one computer to determine that a transmission power of thedevice utilized to transmit one or more signals to the access point isat or at least a threshold level from the transmission power cap; codefor causing the at least one computer to notify the access point thatthe transmission power is at or at least the threshold level from thetransmission power cap; and code for receiving an individually adjustedtransmission power cap for the device from the access point in responseto the notification, wherein the access point individually adjusts thetransmission power cap for the device based on the notification.
 8. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, further comprising:code for causing the at least one computer to receive a request toperform one or more pathloss measurements from the access point; codefor causing the at least one computer to perform the one or morepathloss measurements to one or more other access points or the accesspoint; and code for causing the at least one computer to communicate theone or more pathloss measurements to the access point.
 9. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, code for receivingthe individually adjusted transmission power cap from the access pointin response to the communicating the one or more pathloss measurements.10. An apparatus for determining to adjust a transmission power cap fora device to mitigate interference at least at an access point,comprising: a Tx power cap receiving component for obtaining atransmission power cap from an access point, wherein the transmissionpower cap is computed for a plurality of devices by the access point,and wherein the transmission power cap is common for the plurality ofdevices; and a cap adjustment triggering component for notifying theaccess point that a transmission power of the device utilized totransmit one or more signals to the access point is at or at least athreshold level from the transmission power cap, wherein the Tx powercap receiving component is further for receiving an individuallyadjusted transmission power cap for the device from the access point inresponse to the notification, and wherein the access point individuallyadjusts the transmission power cap for the device based on thenotification.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising: ameasurement request receiving component for obtaining a request toperform one or more pathloss measurements from the access point; apathloss measuring component for performing the one or more pathlossmeasurements to one or more other access points or the access point; anda pathloss reporting component for communicating the one or morepathloss measurements to the access point.
 12. The apparatus of claim11, wherein the Tx power cap receiving component obtains the adjustedtransmission power cap from the access point in response to the pathlossreporting component communicating the one or more pathloss measurements.